Grassroots heat has been getting hotter this week as the Senate runs out of time to vote on the Local Community Radio Act, expanding low-power FM. There are some signs that the action is having some effect. Free Press campaign director Tim Karr tweeted on Thursday, NAB lobbyists overheard at DC event: “We’re getting beat […]
The National Association of Broadcasters has never been a friend to low-power community radio. Back in 2000, when the FCC first created the service, the NAB did everything it could to try and keep it from becoming a reality. While the broadcast lobby failed to stop it outright, the NAB did succeed in getting Congress […]
Six wireless industry related trade associations sent Congress a letter on Monday that goes ballistic on the idea of mandating FM receivers in mobile handsets. The groups wrote in opposition to a reported deal between the National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America in which the former would agree to the […]
It’s always a treat to check in with the House Office of the Clerk’s lobbying disclosure database and see what broadcast radio’s big boys are spending on Congress these days. Needless to say, the top roller is usually Clear Channel Communications, which forked over $1,370,000 in the second quarter of this year. And what did […]
The National Association of Broadcasters wraps up its annual national trade show in Las Vegas tomorrow. Radio has its own annual show, so at the big one it tends to take a back seat to television when it comes to big announcements. Nevertheless, when FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave his remarks [PDF] to the crowd […]
Next Tuesday the Federal Communications Commission will reveal the entirety of its National Broadband Plan, over a year in the making. Required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which authorized $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus spending, The Plan will weigh in on about a thousand broadband related subjects—how to help more people get it, […]
An interesting filing from the National Association of Broadcasters in response to the Federal Communications Commissions’ call for feedback on ways that broadband can help smart grids. The NAB says let FM radio stations lend their subcarrier channels to the cause: “Smart Grid devices, implanted in home appliances, thermostats, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, could receive […]
Tough times necessitate creativity, not to mention a little bit of compassion. Not to be left behind the National Association of Broadcasters serves up both by offering what it’s euphemistically calling a “free agent rate” [scroll down to the bottom] which gives discounted registration of only $179 to its upcoming Radio Show convention. Radio magazine […]
A small band of reform groups have asked the Federal Communications Commission to rethink how it allocates radio licenses in rural areas. They argue that the current system allows big broadcasters to grab suburban/rural signals on the edge of large metropolitan regions, in some instances knocking out smaller stations. The license seeker, they say, doesn’t […]
